The field of the invention is cooking appliances, and the invention relates more particularly to commercial cooking pots of the type used in restaurants and institutions.
In many commercial cooking operations, it is necessary to cook a product which is relatively thick such as a sauce or a pudding which requires stirring. Many such products, if not stirred, can burn and, furthermore, many products are improved by continual stirring. Because of the hectic nature of many commercial kitchens, a cook is often distracted and unable to stir a product with sufficient frequency.
Various attempts have been made to provide means for automating the stirring operation. Once such attempt is shown in the Cuschera U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,910 which supports a motor outwardly from the pot and drives the stirrer through a long drive shaft. Another approach is shown in the Chauvin U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,089 which shows a cooking pot with a motor on the top thereof and a controller box 13 also supported above the cover. An electrical cord 19 passes over the edge of the pot. Obviously, this design would be impractical for use on gas stoves since the electrical line 19 would be easily damaged by the heat which passes upwardly along the sides of a pot when heated on a gas stove or even on an electrical stove. Furthermore, the harsh conditions of heat and humidity above the cooking pot are very harmful to the motor control circuitry, and such approach is not practical for most commercial cooking operations. Lastly, various dedicated food processing operations utilize steam-jacketed kettles which, of course, can be insulated so that electrical controllers are not damaged.
However, for the restaurant or institutional kitchen such cooking utensils are not useful since the kitchen must provide a variety of foods which utilize different cooking utensils, and dedicated processing units are too expensive or bulky for such use.